Austin Peay enters the match at 2-2 in the spring season, having earned wins against Belmont and Western Kentucky. The Govs opened the season with a loss at Louisville and most recently fell to UAB, 4-3, Sunday.

Austin Peay Men's Tennis. (Courtesy: Mateen Sidiq/Austin Peay)

While the Govs progress can be seen within the individual matches, head coach Malik Tabet is certain that his young team has a long way to go. Over the past week, he says it’s the bottom of the lineup that has shown the most improvement.

“John (Storie) has really been playing well,” Tabet said. “Our bottom three, as a group, has come a long way and we need that kind of depth in order to be successful.”

Along with Storie, the two freshmen – Iago Seffrin and Michal Hriciste – have filled out the bottom of the lineup. Over the season’s first four matches, the Govs have posted an even 6-6 record.

Those numbers are countered by a 7-5 start for the top three singles positions. Sophomore Jasmin Ademovic and junior Sean Bailey are both 3-0 at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The wild card has been No. 3 Dimitar Ristovski with a 1-2 record.

“Dimitar is another that is showing a lot of improvement,” Tabet said. “We’re still trying to teach these kids how to play the game the right way. We want them to play smart tennis and to play the right way. We want to win matches, of course, but the result is not the most important thing right now.”

Southern Illinois (1-1) opened their season with a double-header split, falling to No. 67 Purdue but winning, 5-2, against Butler. The Salukis played without the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Jorge Cavero, moving junior Badr Cherradi – a transfer from Shorter University – to No. 1 singles.